Tuesday, October 20, 2009

NBA.com Is Cuckoo For Preview

I've always been a little lukewarm when it comes to NBA team previews. Back before this whole internet thing took off (who would have figured that?) it made sense for newspapers and magazines to write lengthy season previews since there were few ways to follow the team throughout the offseason. But with the changes in the media landscape, previews just don't seem all necessary anymore. The Oregonian, OregonLive.com, Blazersedge.com (here's Ben's preview, btw), The Columbian and a host of others follow the Trail Blazers 365 days a year. If there's something you still don't know about this team and the upcoming season, then you're probably not paying very close attention.

That being said, if you're going to put out a Trail Blazers preview, I'm more than likely going to read/watch it. The folks over at the NBA.com mothership obviously put a lot of time end effort into their previews, so I'm more than happy to do my part to get the word out.

This is the perfect time and place for him, it turns out, not the center of his crumbling universe. Among the many things that went right for the resurgent Trail Blazers last season, tying for the second-best record in the Western Conference alleviated an incalculable amount of pressure on Oden to be great already. Being good enough to start and put a lid on the basket makes him a difference maker and a potential hero. Strange given the '07 perspective, but true.

Can you imagine that, two years removed from a no-brainer draft decision, there are rumblings the Trail Blazers should've taken Kevin Durant instead? That says plenty about Durant, but also something about Oden, raw and hardly the impact player many expected him to be. Big men develop slowly, and Oden did suffer leg injuries, so patience, please. Still, Oden can make everyone in Portland exhale if he learns a pet move, elevates himself to third option on offense and grabs more than seven rebounds a game. Is that asking too much too soon? No, it isn't.

I'm going to use "pet move" in place of "go-to" move from here on out. It sounds much friendlier.